Israel’s latest massacre brings the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza in 48 hours to 150

The Israeli army carried out a massacre in a northern city of Gaza this Saturday, leaving at least 48 dead in attacks on three residential neighborhoods, with the local health ministry announcing a hundred deaths since yesterday afternoon in the Strip, the worst toll in recent weeks.

Images of injured Gazans emerging from smoke and dust at the Al Shati refugee camp in the city, with their faces and clothes blackened by the collapse of buildings, could be seen in several videos spread on social networks, showing a general atmosphere of panic and many buildings in ruins.

In the Al Shati camp alone, at least 22 people are estimated to have been killed by the Israeli bombardment, according to rescue teams, who regret being unable to reach all the wounded who are still trapped under the rubble.

“Ambulance personnel are being denied access to bombed areas; civil protection capabilities are not proportionate to the magnitude of the destruction and it is difficult for us to reach victims,” a Red Crescent spokesman in Gaza said in a statement today.

In a second attack on the Al Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City, another 19 bodies, including children, were recovered from the ruins. Another seven were rescued from the Zeitun area. According to sources in the Hamas government media office, 14 people are missing and 50 are injured.

The Israeli military announced today that it had bombed two “Hamas military infrastructure” points in the Gazan capital with warplanes, but gave no further details in the statement made hours later. Local Israeli media point to a possible assassination attempt on a senior Hamas official as the reason behind the attacks.

The Islamist armed group Hamas in a statement lamented Israel’s “barbaric attack on unarmed civilians”, which it described as “a continuation of the massacre that has been going on for more than eight months in blatant contempt and defiance of all laws and norms that prohibit attacking civilians.”

EU calls for independent probe

Just yesterday, in another attack, which the Israeli military claims to be investigating, at least 25 Gazans were killed and fifty wounded, according to the Health Ministry, when tanks fired on tents housing displaced people north of Rafah, in the area of ​​Al Mawasi, where many displaced people live.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) yesterday denounced that its office, “surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians living in tents”, was damaged by nearby bombings and regretted the threat to the lives of civilians and humanitarians.

On Saturday, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell called for an “independent investigation” into the attack and warned that the Red Cross in Gaza must be able to carry out its tasks under the Geneva Convention, which includes humanitarian protection and victim assistance.

Israeli army says it is investigating assault by soldiers of badly injured Palestinian in Jenin

The Israeli army has also spoken out about the conduct of a group of soldiers this Saturday who tied a badly injured Palestinian to the hood of a military jeep and drove him around the Palestinian city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. The armed forces claim this is against their procedures and provisions.

“The behavior seen in the video is inconsistent with IDF (Israeli Armed Forces) orders and what is expected of its soldiers,” the military statement said. The incident is being investigated and treated accordingly.

Hours earlier, the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service had reported before they were allowed to carry out their work.